This invention relates to the safe disposal of aqueous fluid waste materials. More particularly, it relates to a composition for use in the disposal of aqueous waste fluids such as blood, drained from body cavities of patients pre- and post-operatively as well as during operations, said composition comprising at least one hydrophilic xerogel comprising at least one hydrophilic water-insoluble polymer. If desired, said composition further comprises materials for disinfecting said fluids.
The invention also relates to a method for preparing said fluids for disposal which comprises the addition of said composition to said fluids whereby the xerogel portion of the composition absorbs the aqueous portion of the fluids resulting in on insoluble gel in which the remainder of said fluids is absorbed and immobilized. The disinfectant, if present, destroys or, at least, deactivates infectious agents within said fluids. Thus, the immobilized waste materials are then disposed of by known methods.
The invention further relates to articles comprising containers for use in said disposal wherein said containers are placed within vessels for, and prior to commencement of, the collection of said fluids to provide for addition of the composition of the invention thereto without necessitating opening of the vessel with it concomitant risk of releasing undesirable materials contained in the fluids to the atmosphere. In the event the disinfectant and xerogel are interactive, or it is desired to effect interaction of the fluids therewith, consecutively, said containers may comprise two compartments separated from each other to allow for admixture of the components prior to addition to the fluids or for consecutive addition thereto.
Aqueous fluid waster materials, such as blood, are often drained from body cavities, such as pleurae, before, during and after surgery, for disposal. The drained fluids, which usually comprise harmful components, are collected in vessels which are sealed and discarded or emptied into sinks or toilet bowls.
Furthermore, during sealing and removing said vessels from the patient a portion of the collected fluids may escape from the vessel and contact the surrounding area and personnel proximal thereto.
If the fluids comprise infectious components, e.g., hepatitis B virus, there is also a risk of said fluids infecting said personnel and others who might subsequently come in contact with the spilled fluids.
The potential problems and risks have been reported upon by Mary M. Maijer, BN, RN in the article "Emptying and Disposing of wound Drainage . . . An infection Hazard" (in Today's OR Nurse, 9 (11), 11-16, (1987)).
Thus, post-surgical wound infection has many serious implications for society. For instance, hospital stays are increasing at an average of 3.8 to 10.1 days at a cost, for hospitalization alone, on the order of $2000. Other cost are accounted for by extra personnel required, lost employment, etc. the resultant average economic loss has been estimated to be on the order of about 9.5 billion dollars.
Many of these costs are not paid for by third parties (e.g., insurance companies and Medicare) and must be borne by the healthcare institutions themselves. Furthermore, said institutions and physicians have been subjected to an increasing number of liability suits as a result of these incidents.
One of the more significant factors influencing the incidence of such infections is the availability of means for the transfer of the infecting microorganisms.
A leading means of such transfer has been found to be carriage by healthcare personnel, such as transfer of Pseudonomas on the hand of nursing personnel.
It has been suggested that a transfer of methicillin resistant S. aureous among large medical schools and their affiliated hospitals has been effected though the patient--in house staff circuit, and the organisms for this and other infections can be found in wounds, blood and other body fluids.
It is now being recognized that healthcare personnel themselves are at increasing risk of acquiring infections from their patients by contact with such contaminated body fluids.
Thus, such personnel have acquired hepatitis B virus (HBV), AIDS and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by exposure to the blood of patients having these diseases.
The common factor statistically associated with the acquisition of the diseases has more often been contact of the skin and clothing with blood, and other body fluids rather than accidental needle sticks, swallowing specimens or failing to wash hands and wear gloves frequently.
Thus, of six cases of AIDS infection in healthcare workers, with no know risk factors, two only had extensive contact with blood while three workers acquired HIV following non needle exposure to the blood from infected patients where the blood had either spilled or splattered on their skin or mucous membranes. In one instance the worker wore protective gloves.
An increasing prevalence of HIV has increased the potential for such exposures.
In view of the above elimination or, least, minimalization of healthcare workers exposure to such contaminated fluids must be achieved.
Major sources of such exposures are closed wound drainage devices which require frequent handling and manipulation.
Splashing and aerosolization during handling and emptying the devices, often into sinks and toilet bowls, as well as the usual practices of disposing thereof cause an increased level of infectious materials on the hands and other body parts.
For instance, in collection canisters who covers must be removed for emptying thereof the undersides of the covers as well as the lips of the canisters are covered with contaminants and the fluids may splash as the covers are snapped on and off.
Furthermore, release of the aerosolized components of the fluids contained within the canister create another hazard to the healthcare workers.
While measures are available for reducing the above factors, with a greater or lesser efficacy, it is desirable that the source of the hazards, i.e., escape of the contaminants from the canister, be eliminated and if such escape occurs the infectious character of the fluids eliminated or, at least, minimized.
Therefore, it is necessary that the closed vessels remain sealed during the handling processes.
The Surgidyne Saber and 3C System has been proposed for retaining and disposing of the body fluids without opening the collection vessel.
However, this system retains the drained fluids in their highly mobile and infectious state. Where the canister to open accidentally, e.g., by bursting upon impact the fluids would spill and perhaps splatter therefrom and aerosolization might occur thereby, again, giving rise to the problems the system was eliminate.
Furthermore, at any time during the disposal procedure, e.g., while placing vessels in canisters and transporting the canisters to disposal sites, the vessels might break open spewing their contents on, and possibly infecting, their surroundings including personnel in the proximity thereof.
It has now been found that the above problems may be obviated by use of the compositions of the instant invention in accordance with the methods and in conjunction with the articles thereof.